Risk
by But I Have Promises To Keep
Summary: When Mal is poisoned in a terrorists lab in the middle of the woods, can Natara get him to safety in time, despite the risk of being poisoned herself? Summary may change.
1. Chapter 1

**So, my favorite part of writing stories like this is picking the poison (Kinda weird, but I think it's fascinating). It took me forever to pick one, eventually deciding on Sarin, thinking 'why does this sound so familiar?' Then I realized, this is very similar to the 'poisonous mist' in 'Catching Fire' from The Hunger Games trilogy! ((SPOILER ALERT)I was team Gale, but after a CERTAIN character died, not so sure…). I think Susan Collins might have somewhat based the mist off of this, which is AWESOME if she did! Okay, I'm done ranting now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Cause of Death_ or any of it's characters.  
><strong>

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><p>"We seriously have to WALK all the way out there?" Mal asked.<br>Natara smiled "It'll only take a few hours, it'll be like hiking!".  
>Mal scowled "Yes, because the last time we went on a little 'hike' it ended <em>so<em> well". Natara distinctly heard Mal mutter something that sounded like "freakin' owl" under his breath, and Natara couldn't repress her laugh. She stopped at the look on Mal's face.  
>"Just focus on the case" she said "We could have a terrorist out here, if we don't find out what purpose he's been making Sarin for, and he doesn't confess, this could get bad…".<br>"Yeah, I've been told" said Mal gruffly "Can we just get out there already? I don't want to have to walk back in the dark". Knowing he was still remembering the owl, Natara smiled once more and walked away from where they had parked the car, Mal following behind. After about two and a half hours of walking, and much grumbling from Mal, they finally reached their destination. It was a small place, about the size of a regular ranch house.  
>"I guess that fact that he's making some poison in the middle of the woods in some creepy house isn't enough evidence then" Mal said sarcastically.<br>"Apparently not, he could say he was just making and selling rat poison and get off with a felony charge" Natara said "We'll need to find anything that might prove otherwise".  
>"Isn't this Kai's job?" Mal grumbled, throwing his small backpack that contained some water and his phone by a nearby tree.<br>Natara imitated him "he's already been here, he's gotten all the prints he needs and replaced anything he moved, we just need to see if anything looks suspicious". Mal entered first, walking into a room that was shrouded in semi-darkness. Natara quickly flipped on a switch, lighting a few florescent lights in the ceiling. The building was revealed to only be two large rooms, each filled with various filing cabinets, test tubes and beakers. Natara stayed in the first room, which had more papers and clearly unused chemistry equipment, Mal moving to the next.  
>"This looks like where he's been making it" said Mal "A kind of lab". Suddenly the earth began to shake, ever so slightly. Glass clinked, a few test tubs shattered, and Natara instinctively gabbed a nearby counter and froze. It was a small earthquake. The shaking only lasted for a second, then stopped.<br>"Mal?" she called, then heard the door to the next room, which she had her back turned to, slam. She turned, and her eyes met a horrible scene. Mal was peering at her through the glass door, a broken test tube that obviously had just broken lying across the floor. "_Mal!_" she ran to the door, thinking that it was some sort of mechanical defense mechanism so chemicals couldn't get into the next room. She tried to get in, pulling and pounding at the door. She looked up at Mal, and saw he was shaking his head. Mal had locked himself in a room full of poison, clearly so it couldn't get to Natara.


	2. Chapter 2

The world froze for a moment. Natara stopped trying to open the door, and she and Mal went utterly still as the world froze. "Mal!" Natara screamed, plunging the world back to normal time. She grappled with the handle for a moment, but stopped pounding on the door. Mal simply stood there, his hand still on the door's lock, fear in his eyes. He seemed shocked at what he had done. "The back door!" Natara screamed, seeing one in the corner "Look behind you!". Mal clearly couldn't hear her, but directed his gaze to where she was looking. He spotted it, and scurried across the room. He careful not to step on the broken test tube on the floor, which had clearly fallen from the nearby counter and shattered, the cork that was on if rolling across the floor. What looked like water was everywhere, but was evaporating like rain on a hot driveway. Natara simply watched through the glass, her hands pressed against the door as if she were watching an extremely entertaining movie. Her mouth made a perfect 'O' of surprise, her jaw was dropped in horror. Mal burst through the door, and Natara ran out of the building, trying to find where he had gone out. "Mal!". She went around the side, but couldn't see where Mal had exited. Then she heard him coughing, and sprinted to the back where he had obviously just exited. He was coughing violently into his leave, clearly winded.  
>"Mal!" she said sharply "are you okay?".<br>After a few seconds of coughing, Mal answered hoarsely "I'm fine".  
>Natara looked at him suspiciously, trying to remember everything she had remembered from reading about Sarin. Specifically, the symptoms of Sarin poisoning.<p>

_Symptoms occur within seconds of exposure to the vapor form, as Sarin in liquid form with quickly evaporate. Symptoms include: Watery eyes, pinpointed pupil, eye pain, blurred vision, cough, chest tightness, rapid breathing, confusion, drowsiness, weakness, headaches…_

Then remembering one thing in particular.

_In the final and often fatal final stages of Sarin poisoning, symptoms of entering this stage consist of loss of consciousness, convulsions, paralysis, and then respiratory failure. If respiratory failure is not the cause of death, the alternative is the muscles having spasms after loss of consciousness that lead to exhaustion. Either way, death usually occurs approximately three hours after exposure, less if it was a large or long-term exposure to the toxin…_

"Mal" she said worriedly "What was all over the floor?".  
>"I don't know, I didn't see the label" he said calmly "I'm sure Kai can find a way to find out later, as much <em>fun<em> as this little trip was, I'm about ready to go back". He walked past Natara, who simply stood there and watched him. He didn't know what was in that test tube, but had still risked himself to make sure it didn't get to her. She warily followed him, remembering one last thing.

_Sarin's toxin is still poisonous on clothing or skin thirty minutes after exposure._

'Relax' she told herself 'Mal might not even be poisoned. He's only coughing, that's only one symptom. He doesn't seem too worried about it'. She followed him, finding him bending down to pick up his small backpack that they had placed by a nearby tree earlier.  
>"Mal" she said, trying not to alarm him. She knew stress could only make the toxin spread quicker, if it was even present. "You don't think that was Sarin, do you?".<br>"What makes you say that?" he asked, coughing once again into his sleeve. Natara simply watched him with raised eyebrows. He rolled his eyes slightly "Let me guess, you read about Sarin poisoning before we got here". Natara didn't answer, but kept looking at him. "...and coughing is one of the symptoms".  
>She nodded slightly "You didn't have that cough before we got here".<br>He gave a slight smile "Look, _I'm fine_. You read too much Nat" he said, clearly trying to change the subject. And with that he started walking away, and Natara had no other choice but to follow him.

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><p><strong>Thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited! It really means a lot!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Review Replies:**

**mozzi-girl:**  
><strong>Thanks, I loved that part in 'Love and Bullets' so much…the plot line had so many twists in so little time. It also doesn't hurt that my favorite animal is an owl :P thanks for the review!<strong>

**SVUProductions: **  
><strong>Maybe that's Sarin you smell…lol jk Sarin is colorless and odorless *nerd joke*. <strong>

**nat157s:**  
><strong>Thanks so much! That really means the world to me! (I know I say that about almost every review, but really it's true!). Thanks so much for that, long reviews make my day :). <strong>

**I just wanted to say, I may be discontinuing 'How Far?'. Looking at my plot line and the few reviews for my last update, I might just stop. I'm starting to dislike it myself (more than usual, but I don't think anyone ever likes anything they ever write. Or maybe I just tell myself that so I don't seem so odd) Also, I had a dream about CoD death last night, but a dream that I was_ playing_ CoD. (is that bad?). So, I'm going to write what I dreamed, because when I woke up in the morning for about two hours I ACTUALLY thought it had really happened and I was freaking out. So I'll probably post that after this is done. That is all.**

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><p>Fifteen minutes. Natara kept track of the time since Mal had breathed in that mystery gas, watching for anything more. At first she had had a little hope, it seemed that Mal only had a cough. It was just then that something else had shown up. As they were walking, Mal had briefly half-closed his eyes, rubbing them with his thumb and pointer finger.<p>

"You okay?" Natara asked.

Once again he rolled his eyes, but took a deep sigh "I'm fine, just a little headache".  
>This made her heart sink. She didn't say anything more, but knew if her suspicions were true Mal could literally drop dead at any time. The thought of leaving him on the forest floor, twitching and fighting to breathe, to go get help was unbearable. That after all the life-threatening situations they had survived, he would lose to something he couldn't see, couldn't fight. They only walked a few more yards when Mal stopped very suddenly, startling Natara.<p>

"Mal, are you-" she started, seeing he was beginning to breathe heavily as if hyperventilating. "Mal!". After a few terror-filled moments he stopped, recovering but still taking in air as if he had just ran a mile.  
>He turned around, and she could see it in his eyes. The pupils were reduced to tiny dots, and they were watering terribly as if he had bad allergies.<p>

"I've got it, don't I?" he said.  
>Very slowly, as if Mal were a rabid animal that might attach at sudden movements, Natara nodded. "How long?" he asked.<p>

Natara suddenly became fidgety and nervous. How could she put an expiration date on her best friend? "Well, it depends" she started, stalling until she could think of a way to tell Mal without alarming him. "It depends on the amount of time, concentration if the toxin, where-".

"How long?" Mal said suddenly again, not angry, but forceful.

"A few hours" she said breathlessly "Three at the most". She expected Mal to swear, to kick a tree in anger. Or possibly run, getting to help sooner but also spreading the poison quicker with his accelerated heart rate. You could see a small change in his eyes, one that made his already small pupils grow smaller, and he gave another deep breath. At first Natara thought he was gasping for air again, then realized. Mal was accepting his fate.

"Alright then" he said. And with that he turned around once again, resuming the pace he had before as if nothing had happened. Maybe he was trying to be calm, for he knew stressing out about it would only make it worse. Or maybe was trying to stay calm for Natara. Either way, there was one thing he didn't know. Natara could do nothing for now, he had at least fifteen minutes until he was safe to be near. And a lot could happen in fifteen minutes. Because another thing Mal didn't know, was that he could die a quick yet painful death at any time. That even though it only took two and a half hour to get here, he could easily become paralyzed or lose control of the muscles in his limbs. For now though, Natara knew it would be unwise to enlighten him of any of these facts. If he knew he was carrying poison he would force Natara to separate from him, she knew that. And if he knew he could die at any second…well no one really knows how someone could react to that. But she knew, however he took it, it wouldn't be good. She followed be behind him calmly, checking her phone as she did so, just in case. No bars. "Damn trees"she muttered under her breath, replacing the phone in her pocket. But as she did she saw Mal glance her his shoulder, smiling at her comment.

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><p><strong>Also, sorry this is formatted so weird this time, stupid technology-impaired me<strong> **attempted to double space, and lets just say my computer is older than I am and doesn't like double spacing...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Review Repiles:**

**SVUProductions:**  
><strong>Lol that made me laugh, thanks for the review!<strong>

**mozzi-girl:**  
><strong>Thanks for understanding, but I'm probably going to end up just finishing it. You probably know that already though. And yes, it's because I'm giving into peer pressure. O.o Thanks for the review!<strong>

**Oryt:**  
><strong>Always awesome to hear from you, makes me smile so much. It seriously makes me ridiculously happy to see you've written something :)<strong>  
><strong>Thanks so much for reviewing!<strong>

**Things In Ink:**  
><strong>Thanks! Maybe Mal will live…maybe not…I kinda have a lovehate relationship with cliffhangers, and right now they are my friend since I've contracted a disease when it come to writing…it's called laziness. Thanks for the review!**

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><p>Twenty five minutes. Soon it would be safe to approach Mal, but for now Natara kept her distance. There were a few occurrences like earlier, where Mal would have to stop and make wild gasps for air, but most weren't at the extreme as the first time. During these times Natara would hold her breath in fear, as if breathing was a rule that passed between them. She began to think what she could do after the minimum thirty minutes was up. Was there anything she could do? She hated it. Hated being helpless to help her partner, unable to even see what he was fighting. Just watch as he gasped for air, knowing there was nothing she could do. If he started experiencing respiratory failure, he was a goner. There was no way to help him. She shook this thought away, thinking like that wouldn't help Mal. For now, the only way was to move forward. As the last few minutes ticked by, Natara was startled once again by Mal pausing.<p>

"Mal?" she said. His hand was on a tree, and his fingers were wrapped around the trunk tightly, his head bowed as if in silent prayer. Clearly he was in pain, and he looked lost. The path they were taking was clear from here, and Natara couldn't figure out why he would be confused. "Mal?" she said again "are you okay?". He silently nodded, but didn't move for a few seconds. Then he snapped his hand back as if in pain from the tree, as if the trunk was a hot stove-top. This made Natara jump slightly at his sudden movement.

"What was that?" she asked quickly.  
>Mal looked at his hand, then to where he had placed it on the tree, clearly trying to find what had made him flinch. He stared silently for a while, clearly trying to get his eye to focus.<p>

"Nothing" he said quickly, then started walking again. But Natara knew what 'Nothing' was. His nerves were over overreacting, which only meant one thing. The Sarin was beginning to attack his nervous system, Mal was entering the final stage of Sarin poisoning.

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><p><strong>Sorry this is so short...<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

It was getting worse. Much worse. The thirty minutes was up, and just in time. Mal was slowly losing the ability to move his left leg from the knee down, and this meant that his nervous system was being destroyed by the poison. That the major artery in his calf was dying. He tried to walk with it, saying nothing about it until he was long since limping. Natara ended up holding tightly to his wrist, his arm around her shoulders and herself acting as a crutch. He now only took in deep breaths, as if just emerging from underwater. Natara kept saying things like  
>"Just four more miles…three and a half more miles…" and eventually "Just two more miles". If course this was a rough estimation, but she hoped if she gave Mal a frame of time he would be able to stay alive. Occasionally they would have to stop, for Mal would begin to cough with such violence that he would jerk back. Once it even seemed it wouldn't stop. He make gasping noises like he was choking, and this made Natara begin to panic.<br>"Mal!" she cried, unsure what to do. He stopped breathing, she could see it. He was gasping and struggling, as if someone was physically holding him in a choke hold. Instinctively, she smacked him hard on the back. After a terrifying second he started coughing again and Natara could once again breathe.  
>"You okay?" she asked. Mal nodded very slowly. "We need to move" she said.<br>To her surprise, Mal gave a rather sarcastic smile "Way to state the obvious". She couldn't help but give a slight smile, classic Mal. Even inches from death, he could still find a place for sarcasm. They continued to hobble like that again, inching up the path. A mile and a half left. One mile. A half a mile…Natara could see the end of the path…  
>In excitement, she half-dragged Mal across the path, not even looking at him as she awkwardly ran down the path.<br>"Come on, we're gonna make it!" she yelled at Mal, trying to get him to move. But she didn't realize how utterly still her partner had gone. That as she reached where they had parked, yelled at a passing by park ranger to call and ambulance, there was something she hadn't realized. Finally realizing something was wrong, she lay Mal on the ground and saw why he had gone ominously still. Mal wasn't breathing.


	6. Chapter 6

Review Replies:

**SVUProductions:**

**Uuummmm…can I ask how long it took you to type that?**

**Oryt:**

**Omg, I would never block you :) I love your reviews, they totally make my day! Whenever I come home, I literally hope I got a review from you! Just out if curiosity, can I ask what your username is? Is it like initials or just random letters? Just curious.**

**MaltaraFluff647:**

**You think I'd leave you with an ending like that? No way. Glad you liked the end, I was afraid the general population might murder me for it O.o**

**mozzi-girl:**

**lol thanks :) suspense was intended.**

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><p><em>'No…no…Mal can't be dead…<em>'.

This is what Natara was thinking as she saw her still partner on the ground. Thinking that this wasn't him. That Mal was never this still, that soon he would sit up and laugh. Explain that this was some elaborate trick…but no. He didn't move. With trembling fingers Natara pressed the back if her fingers to Mal's neck, searching for a pulse. At first she couldn't find one, her hands were shaking so bad. When she did her heart stopped for a moment. It was faint, like the pulse of a baby bird, but it was there. She gently tilted Mal's head, forcing his mouth open and placing her lips in his. She forced her breath into his lungs, trying desperately to bring him back.

"Mal!" she called once, as if calling his name would bring him back. Then he coughed. Once, quickly. Natara sighed with relief. She hadn't realized she had grabbed Mal's hand, but since his recent brush with death Mal's fingers had locked around her's in a death grip. His eyes were still closed. The lids were fluttering, or more so twitching, but other than that he did not stir. Natara squeezed his hand back, and at this point it would be impossible to say which was squeezing harder. It was as if they were both trying to break the others hand.  
>"Mal" she called softly, unsure that he could even hear her "Just hold on, okay? Just hold on". The could hear the sirens of the ambulance, but the vehicle was still not in sight. Mal's breathing was quickly becoming sharp and uneven again, drawing in less air. His breath quivered between his lips.<p>

"Where is that damn ambulance?" she asked of no one in particular. She could see it nearing now, it was so close. But she could tell Mal was close to losing what little stability she was able to give him.

"Ma'am" said one of the approaching paramedics as the ambulance pulled in "Ma'am you need to move". Natara did, only because she knew there was nothing more she could do. They quickly took Mal away, and she followed into the ambulance without asking permission.

"Mal…" she kept calling softly, watching as a large oxygen mask was forced over the face of her partner.

"Ma'am? Do you know what happened?" the one paramedic asked her slowly, as if expecting her to be incoherent from shock.

"Poison…it was poison…" she said softly. She placed her hand over Mal's again, taking it in hers. She squeezed, but Mal didn't squeeze back.

"Do you know what kind?" he asked.

"Sarin" she answered.

The same paramedic turned to another "Call ahead, we don't have an antidote to that immediately available. We should be able to get some in enough time, god knows how he got exposed the the stuff…".  
>But Natara could barely hear any of this. There was only one word she seemed to know now, and that was Mal's name. <p>


	7. Chapter 7

**Review Replies:**

**Oryt:**  
><strong>Thanks! See, I can't understand any other dialects…or accents…or languages. Where I'm from EVERYONE is pretty much the same. 75% of people at my school are RussianUkrainian the rest of us are just…there. I speak English (obviously) and a little sign language. That's it, kinda boring. Loved 'Mallory' though, can't wait to see how it turns out. **

**mozzi-girl:**  
><strong>Thanks a lot! Intensity intended :)<strong>

**SVUProductions:**  
><strong>I'm guessing you want Mal to live then…lol that's a lot of 'NO's.<strong> 

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><p>They took him away. As soon as the ambulance pulled up he was taken away, leaving Natara behind. She wasn't aware she was screaming his name, as if he could hear her and would come back. Or that she was trying to follow him, until one of the paramedics yelled at her to sit down. Her mind numb from shock, Natara made her way to the small and grim-feeling waiting room. A child was crying, a man was holding his shoulder in pain. A child in a cast was waiting happily, reading a book and showing the pictures to his adoring mother. It was calm and quiet, mocking the fear on confusion inside Natara. Time slowed to a crawl, the man with the injured shoulder was called back. Next the mother and wailing infant. Then finally the child with the cast. Natara was alone, the silence of the room torture to her growingly pessimistic mind. Every silent pause held a new way for Mal to die, every second holding uncertainty. It seemed word had reached the others, for they soon came. Amy, Kai and Ken, making the receptionist look at this odd group strangely. They didn't say anything, and Natara figured they already knew. That the hospital must have called the station, explaining everything. They simply sat in silence, as if someone had taken away their ability to speak.<br>"Ms. Williams?" said a faint voice. Natara's looked up. A young woman in scrubs was standing there, her face stoic and impassive. Natara wished she would show some emotion, maybe give her some hint of Mal's fate. But she didn't, and it made Natara's hope begin to wilt like a flower. "This way please" she said. After a few worried glances were exchanged, Natara got up and followed the woman. She didn't ask her anything, for she feared a euphemistic answer. The woman signaled her to go into the next room they approached, and she obeyed.  
>"Mal…" she said as soon as she entered, a smile creeping on her lips. She quickly crossed the room, throwing her arms around her partner.<br>"Geez, Nat" said Mal, who was sitting up in a hospital bed "Would you relax? I'm fine".  
>"You almost died!" she exclaimed "I know for a fact you stopped breathing at least twice!". Mal rolled his eyes slightly "Shut up" she said, but was still smiling. She pulled away, simply taking in the face of her partner as if seeing him for the first time.<br>"Come here, Nat. I need to tell you something". Unsure what was coming, Natara leaned forward and let Mal whisper in her ear "I am NEVER going 'hiking' with you again".  
>Natara smiled "One bad experience…"<br>"Two" he corrected.  
>"Two bad experiences…" she started, but trailed off when she saw Mal was laughing.<br>"Nat?" he said suddenly "thanks".  
>"For what?" asked Natara.<br>"You know…" Mal started, then fake-coughed into his sleeve as he said "Saving my life". The fake-cough made Natara jump, and Mal's face broke into a smile again.  
>"What are you smiling about?" she said, seeing his smug look.<br>"You worry too much".  
>"I had a right to worry" she responded "You're my partner. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you".<br>Mal's eyebrows raised once again "You'd figure it out".  
>Natara briefly looked down at her hands, then suddenly looked up so her eyes met Mal's "No, I don't think so. Mal, you're the only person I'd never mistrusted". She paused for a moment before she added "…and I love you".<br>Mal's face showed utter shock for a moment, and at first Natara worried she had ruined what she had with him now. But after a prolonged second his gave broke into a smile, and Mal said those three same words back that made all those fears evaporate. 


End file.
